Lady scores on Singapore debut

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Box Office News

The Lady (2011), a portrait of Burmese political opposition leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi, got off to a good start in theatres in South East Asian neighbour Singapore.

Released by Homerun Asia 家樂電影 in an exclusive association with Golden Village Multiplex Pte Ltd cinemas, the film scored S$71,000 (US$57,100) in its opening weekend from a five screen release.

Homerun boss Daniel YUN 雲暉翔 expressed delight with the result and the top-scoring S$14,200 per screen average. He said that the company plans to add one or two screens and that GV will play it in larger theatres. "The Lady will be one of those rare titles where the second and third weeks are bigger than its opening week; the hallmark of a real hit by word-of-mouth and building awareness."

While the Singapore box office is dominated by Hollywood titles, The Lady represents a relatively rare Asian-themed film in the English-language.

Yun said that Singapore contains a significant Burmese minority population, which has been motivated to see the film in theatres.

The film was recently released in Hong Kong by Golden Scene Co Ltd 高先電影有限公司 and accumulated US$567,000 after four weeks.

In Thailand, where the film was partially shot and which contains a larger Burmese population, The Lady garnered $168,000 after five weeks for M Pictures.

Star Michelle YEOH 楊紫瓊 promoted the film in Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore, while director Luc BESSON was in Thailand and Hong Kong.

 
It was another poor week for Australian-UK co-production Killer Elite (2011) on its second week of release on home turf. The film grossed A$141,000 ($US$151,000) at the Australian box office, taking its ten day total to A$526,000 ($586,000). The film was produced on an $80 million budget by Australia's Omnilab Media and is released locally by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Australia.

 
Paan Singh Tomar, a low-budget feel-good drama, was the star performer at the Indian box office. The story of a top athlete who was treated as an outcast and fought back against the authorities, has won critical plaudits for its script and direction by Tigmanshu Dhalian and performances by Irrfan KHAN and Mahie GILL. It scored INR42.5 million ($840,000) for distributor UTV Motion Pictures.

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